TEXAS
Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle, the Gulf Coast, the Red River, and the Rio Grande, is as much a part of you as anything ever will be.
As soon as anyone, anywhere the world over looks at it, they know what it is -TEXAS!! Pick any kid off the street in Japan, and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt, and he'll know what it is. What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You might get it, maybe after a second or two, but, even if you do, does it stir those feelings in you?
In every man, woman, and child on this planet, there is a person who wishes just once he/she could be a real live Texan, and get up on a horse, or ride off in a pickup. There is a little bit of Texas in everyone.
Did you ever hear anyone in a bar say, 'Wow...so you're from Iowa? Cool, tell me about it?'
Texas is the Alamo - 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for Texas' freedom! They had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but they stayed instead to fight and die for Texas' freedom.
We send our kids to schools named after William B. Travis, James Bowie, and Davy Crockett, and do you know why? Because those men drew a line in the sand, and then stepped across it, to become Texas' beloved heroes.
John Wayne, himself, paid to do the movie, 'The Alamo'. Now THAT is the Spirit of Texas!
Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, huge forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crockett National Forest, breathtaking mountains in the Big Bend, the unparalleled beauty of Bluebonnet fields in the Texas Hill Country every Spring.
Texas is the world record Bass caught from places like Lake Fork.
Texas is the beautiful, warm beaches of the Gulf Coast, the towering shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas, Mexican food like nowhere else, not even Mexico.
Texas is the Houston Astrodome, the Fort Worth Stockyards, Bass Hall, the Ballparks in Arlington and Houston.
Texas is larger-than-life legends like Michael DeBakey, Denton Cooley, Gene Autry, Audie Murphy, Jimmy Dean, Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Tommy Lee Jones, Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, ZZ Top, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal, Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Nolan Ryan, Sam Rayburn, Howard Hughes, Lyndon B. Johnson, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and let's not forget GEORGE STRAIT!!
PANTERA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Texas is great companies like Texas Instruments, Compaq, Bell Helicopter, Blue Bell Creamery, Dell Computer, and LOCKHEED MARTIN AEROSPACE. Texas is the first home of the F-111, F-16, and JSF Fighter Jets. Texas is NASA.
Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops seen under amazing sunsets of gold, hundreds of deer running around neighborhoods and fields, skies blackened with doves.
Texas is a place where towns and cities shut down Friday night to watch the local high school football game, Monday Night for Cowboy or Texan Football, and for the Night In Old San Antonio River Parade!
Because Texas is the only state in the United States that was a Republic BEFORE it became a state, Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can:
1.) Fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag;
2.) Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the U. S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.;
3.) We can divide our state into up to five smaller states at any time; and,
4.) We have the option to ceceed from the United States, and again become The Independent Republic of Texas.
Texas has its own Navy, and Air Force, and even has its own power grid!! ... Did I mention that Texas is the live music capitol of the world?
To drive across Texas, is to drive 1/4 way across the United States. Everything's bigger in Texas !
Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies, agriculture, and modern cities. The Texas Economy is the 5th largest in the World.
It is just done bigger and better in Texas. If it isn't in Texas, well, you probably don't need it.
